We haven't seen any sharks or been told to get out of the water due to their presence, but sharks images abound. And I just heard on the radio that sharks are happily feasting on a dead sperm whale that currents are moving towards the island, so they aren't too far away.
Here are a couple sharks that I've encountered.
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| Mailbox shark |
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| Ritzy shark |
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| This is our car shark that travels with us |
This morning, we took a small-boat, snorkel excursion to Captain Cook Monument. It was a lot of fun, and we saw lots of nice fish, and had close-to-the-boat encounters with spinner dolphins, some of which were spinning, and others of which were wake surfing.
This monument marks the spot where Captain Cook (the great British explorer and cartographer) was killed by Hawaiians after a series of unfortunate events in the late 18th century.
Here are some of the fish that we swam with.
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| Yellow tang (lau'ipala) |
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| Threadfin butterflyfish (kikakapu) |
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| Racoon butterflyfish (also kikakapu) |
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| White-spotted surgeonfish ('api) being cleaned by Hawaiian cleaner wrasse |
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| Yellowmargin moray eel (puhi paka) |
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| Multiband butterflyfish (also kikakapu) |
This morning, we headed north to Hapuna Beach State Park. This beach is a lovely, white-sand beach with easy entry into the water, and great for swimming. There are a few rocks in the middle of the beach, but they are easy to avoid. We had the honor of swimming with two sea turtles today. Always a joy!
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| South end of Hapuna Beach |
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| North end of Hapuna Beach |
Off the beaten path, at the end of a 2-mile, narrow, winding road that drops at least 1000 feet in elevation from the highway, lies a lovely fine-grained, dark sand beach. Today's lack of surf made it a perfect spot to jump in and swim or snorkel.
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| Looking south |
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| Looking north |
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| Remains of an old pier |
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| Lava rocks just north of the beach |
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| The back of the beach, beneath basalt cliffs |
This morning, we headed to the closest beach. It is rather small and quiet in comparison with some of the more famous beaches on the island. but still a lovely place to hang out.
The beach looks completely different when viewed from the north and south ends.
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| Looking south |
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| Looking north |
On the north end, I walked around many lava tide pools. And I encountered three species of sea urchins and a few sandpipers on the rocks.
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| In April, this ruddy turnstone will migrate to the Arctic to breed. |
At the south end of the beach, free divers were heading out to spearfish. They knew the safest place to get in the water and spent over an hour fishing.
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| Freediving requires skill, very long fins, and a spear gun to fish |
There are several nice trees high on the beach, providing shade as well as sites to hang a hammock.
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| This guy slept the whole time we were on the beach. Perhaps he had a rough Valentine's Day. |
On a gray morning, I went walking to nearby beaches. Not many people were out, but I found myself in the company of a sea turtle. It was swimming in an old, brackish-water fishpond, behind a heiau (a Hawaiian temple/sacred site) that is part of the old Kahalu'u historical site.
The heiau is guarded by a pair of carved, wooden tiki statues.
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| Fish pond in foreground, heiau on left side, Pacific in background |
Aloha for another day!
